A typical camera for mounting on a vehicle has a lens assembly that is fixed in position in the camera housing. This, however has disadvantages associated with it. One disadvantage is that it limits the functionality of the camera. If the camera is configured to focus on objects that are 7 meters in front of the vehicle, then the camera cannot effectively be used for functions that require it to focus on objects that are near the camera. If it is desired to provide a camera that focuses on objects that are near, it could entail the use of a separate camera from the one configured to focus on objects that are 7 meters away.
Furthermore, fixed focus cameras can be time consuming to adjust for focus initially during manufacture. A traditional solution is to use relatively expensive robotic equipment to carefully adjust the position of the lens assembly in the camera housing and to determine whether the camera is in focus after each adjustment. Once the camera is determined to be in focus, adhesive holding the lens assembly to the housing can then be cured or otherwise hardened. This particular step can be time consuming, which is generally not ideal in a high-volume production application.
There is a need for cameras that at least partially address these problems.